1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device driver installing method, and more particularly, to a method of installing a device driver after downloading the device driver from a server located in a global network.
2. Background of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified network system in which a plurality of PCs are connected to a server through a network. In the network system of FIG. 1, many PCs 1a, 1b, 1c, . . . each have a network accessing card, such as LAN card, and are able to be connected to a server 5 which can provide a variety of information and programs over the network. The information and programs on the servers can be searched for easily and conveniently by a user through an application program such as a Web browser executed by the individual PC. In addition to such searches, other programs or information on the server can be downloaded to the PCs.
As computer technology has matured, various peripheral devices for supporting additional and enhanced computer functions such as multimedia processing functions have been developed. Additionally, the functions of such peripheral devices are being constantly improved. Therefore, there frequently occurs a case that a device driver capable of driving a video or an audio chipset embedded in a peripheral device should be upgraded or updated in order to improve its function or to resolve unexpected errors in operation. For this reason, manufacturers of the peripheral devices usually maintain servers in order that users may obtain upgraded device drivers easily by downloading the necessary device driver from the server over a global network such as the Internet.
When a user of a PC wants to install a peripheral device in his or her PC for the first time, he or she inserts the peripheral device card into an I/O slot equipped in the PC. After installation, the user places a floppy diskette or an optical disk provided by the manufacturer of the peripheral device, into a floppy disk drive or a CD-ROM drive of the PC. The user may then the install program step by step in accordance with installation instructions displayed through pop-up windows on the PC's monitor.
Referring to FIG. 1, if a new device driver with improved functions or error fixes is to be installed in place of a previously installed driver, a user requests a download of the new device driver from the server 5. The downloaded device driver can then be temporally stored on a hard disk or other storage device. The stored device driver is then installed into a kernel of O/S (Operating System) of the PC by the user in accordance with installation instructions displayed through pop-up windows on the PC's monitor.
The related art method of updating drivers has various problems. For example, because the new device driver must be located on the network before it can be downloaded, a user must search the network for a server providing a necessary or upgraded device driver. Because searching a network can be slow, a user can speed up the process by knowing the address such as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the server in advance. However, it is unlikely that all users will know the address of the server.
Another problem with driver download is that a user might install the wrong device driver for a peripheral device because users are not aware of the exact requirements of his or her installed hardware and cannot choose the appropriate device driver from the many stored on the server.
In addition, a floppy diskette or an optical disk provided for installation of a device drive is not used after the first successful installation, therefore, resources are wasted, which unnecessarily increases expenses.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.